Here is the text of Basil’s message to Macron!

The head of the “Strong Lebanon” bloc, Representative Gebran Bassil, wrote a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, and the following is the text of the message:

Mr president,

I address this message to you in the wake of a major setback in the reform project in Lebanon and consequently hit the essence of the initiative that you launched during your visit to Lebanon on the first of last September on the occasion of the centenary of Greater Lebanon, which was agreed upon with you in the Pine Palace; It is an initiative aimed at preserving this Lebanon and centered around the need for the state to undertake fundamental and structural reforms of the banking, financial and economic system through the parliament and through a “mission” government capable of implementing the reform program, provided that you, on your part, help by encouraging countries to participate in a program of support. For Lebanon, in return for reforms that it would implement, which are already compatible with the supreme interest of the homeland.

In light of the liquidity crisis, the lack of Lebanese depositors ’funds in Lebanese banks, and the large financial gap that appeared in the accounts of the Banque du Liban, it was natural that at the forefront of the reform paper was the reform of the financial and banking system by conducting criminal audits in the accounts of the Central Bank of Lebanon and approving the law controlling money transfers Abroad.

Unfortunately, this law has not been approved yet, despite the fact that we were able in the Free Patriotic Movement to submit proposals regarding it to the House of Representatives that had been approved by some parliamentary blocs, and they soon collapsed upon their presentation in Parliament sessions. It is self-evident to say that with the passage of more than a year since the explosive financial crisis without the passage of this law, this is evidence of the existence of hidden corruption through discretionary smuggling of funds abroad in light of the scarcity of liquidity and the low reserves needed to buy basic life needs from abroad.

Mr president,

We had appealed to you to help us through the European Community to uncover the looted and smuggled funds, discreetly since October 17, 2019, and return them to Lebanon to alleviate the severity of the crisis and reduce the size of depositors’ losses, and we again appeal to you to help us in accordance with the rules and laws in force internationally to stop the series of smuggling of corrupt funds and expose those involved in it This would help the Lebanese people to distinguish between reformers and corrupt people, which would reform political life in Lebanon, and lead for the first time in its history to the adoption of the principle of accountability.

To date, the Parliament has been unable to approve a number of anti-corruption laws that were submitted by our parliamentary bloc, the passage of which would strike the corrupt and stop their public theft series, including the recovery of smuggled money, automatic disclosure of the accounts and properties of every public service official, and the establishment of a special court for crimes Financial.

Likewise, the Parliament has been late to date in approving the laws for the independence of the judiciary and public procurement included in your initiative, which are unjustified for delaying their approval, especially since the matter does not require the existence of a government with full powers.

This government, which we agreed with you on the criteria for its formation, to be one on all, and to be a government capable of implementation, supported by the representative blocs and thus possessing the confidence of the Lebanese people, the parliament and the international community. Unfortunately, its formation was delayed, on the one hand, due to some linking the formation process to things from outside, pending developments and preventing sanctions. On the other hand, due to the attempt by some to bully the French initiative and the miserable economic situation to impose unusual conditions contrary to the constitution and the charter, and to strike the national balance and political stability; This, in turn, prevents the establishment of any stable and pro-reform political atmosphere.

All of this, we sought to overcome it and we are still keen on reform and the success of your initiative. However, the major setback was to cancel the criminal audit contract in the accounts of Banque du Liban with a specialized international company because the financial political system controlling the country does not see in it an interest for it, rather it sees in it an exposure of its interests. And revealing to the Lebanese public the truth about its crimes.

Whereas the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, and since he was at the head of our parliamentary bloc, has been trying since 2005 to implement this criminal audit, the affected people are seeking to prevent it, and in the last period they left only a means and used it to attack him, and they actually succeeded in deflecting the company in charge of conducting the audit by refusing to supply it. With the required information. President Aoun has sent a letter to the Parliament urging it to take all necessary to conduct the criminal audit of the accounts of the Banque du Liban and consider it as an entry point for auditing all public expenditures. We will endeavor with him to achieve this, and we are aware of how much you agree with President Aoun on the priority of this investigation as a natural and intuitive entrance to start the process of financial correction and the detection and recovery of looted, gifted and transferred funds. From this section, i.e. your concern for Lebanon, we write to you because of our fear of your initiative to save Lebanon, and because of our certainty that you can pressure this system that rejects financial auditing by exposing it, with your capabilities in uncovering facts through the European and international banking system.

Mr president,

We are determined to carry out the forensic audit and reform to the end, and I am sure that you, and France, will not leave the Lebanese people alone in this battle.

Gebran Bassil

President of the Free Patriotic Movement